Just One Book

cmhbob

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This came across a Facebook group for former Booktrope creatives, and I thought it was worth sharing and supporting. I'll be sending a copy of The Sad Girl.

I live in a town of 1200 people in the Northern Sierra Nevada –where it meets the Cascade Range near Mt. Lassen National Park and about two hours drive northwest of Reno, NV. Two hundred of that population is students. Over the years as the population dwindled after mines closed, then mills–nothing except tourism and retirement have emerged as ‘industries.’ Many businesses have closed down and with it many things we take for granted—like libraries.

The local junior/senior high school has not been able to purchase new books since the 90s. Some of the “check outs” for old books are in the 1980s. There are no books by people of color in the library. Hardly any books by women are in the few book cases except your standard Austen and Lee. It’s an uninviting place. There hasn’t been a librarian for nearly a decade. And volunteers weren’t allowed. The last eight years students couldn’t even check out books.

Looks like the original post went up July 7th, and she's been slammed by responses.

Original Post

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 - Amazon Wish List

A local-ish bookstore if you'd rather go that route instead of Amazon.
 

Fruitbat

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Great post, Bob.
 
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tiakall

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Glad to see other people sharing this around. :) I sent them four books - my favorite from when I was a teen (the Enchanted Forest Chronicles...even found the same hardcover edition I read from our public library!), two volumes of a manga by my favorite author (since the 27-volume series that's my absolute favorite was out of the question due to two of the volumes being out of print) and a poetry book since they had a lot of poetry on their wishlist (when they still had a wishlist.) Thinking about going over to the used bookstore tomorrow and seeing if I can find a few YA on the cheap.

My roommate pointed out something great, too - judging by the sizes of the boxes in the pictures, a lot of people aren't sending just one book, either. :)
 

Maggie Maxwell

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They initially had 700 items on the Amazon wishlist. It's been cleaned out. By the time I read it yesterday, there were only two items left, neither in stock. Both are gone now. It's heartwarming how people have come together for this little county library. Hope they've got enough space for all their new books. :) I'll check out my collection and see if there's anything I can bear to part with for them. If not, maybe I'll pick out something from Amazon on my own.
 

Brightdreamer

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Sort of makes me wish there was a site dedicated to school libraries in need of books - I can't believe this is the only one in America in such dire straits, just one that found a way to go viral with their plea. (Sounds like this one's getting Heard, at least...)

I've been gathering a bag for my aunt's Little Free Library - maybe I'll divert a few.
 

cmhbob

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That very idea has been rattling around in my head since I first read this story. I'd think it would be a relatively simple database to build.
 

cvolante

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Sort of makes me wish there was a site dedicated to school libraries in need of books - I can't believe this is the only one in America in such dire straits, just one that found a way to go viral with their plea. (Sounds like this one's getting Heard, at least...)

I've been gathering a bag for my aunt's Little Free Library - maybe I'll divert a few.

That's a great idea. Some schools have so much more than others and the ones that struggle often have a less free time to even apply for grants or write a blog like this person did. I'm sending some books today.